Sunday. October 15. 1939
Tlie DAILY NE1IRASKAN
5
Background Digest
How will war
affect U.S.
agriculture?
Burr says no reason
exists for expansion of
American production
. BY W. W. BURR.
(Deaii of Umi eolkge of imrUullnre.)
.What effoct the European
war will have upon American
Agriculture is a prominent ques
tion before the farmers and all
who are interested in American
agriculture. Will there be another
food shortage? Will there be high
prices like those following the last
war? And when are they likely
to come? These and other ques
tions are important not only to
X American agriculture but to
American consumers.
The effect of the European war
on our agriculture will depend
largely upon the intensity with
which the war is carried on and
its duration. If the war should be
thrown Into high gear and prose
cuted with intensity, large amounts
of equipment and materials will be
needed and, in common with the
general price level agricultural
prices will doubtless advance. If
the war is draggy or is of short
duration, there Bhould be no rapid
change in agricultural prices.
Much food, fiber.
There are at the present time
large supplies of food and fiber
crops. This is true of world sup
plies as well as supplies within the
United States. It is generally un
derstood that the warring nations
have adequate food supplies for
the present from the point of view
of supplies, therefore, there is no
reason for prices to advance mate
rially. If the war Is long drawn out
agricultural prices must and will
advance. With so many men un
der arms agricultural production is
Vsure to be reduced. Knowing this,
countries as well as individuals
will probably become more or less
panicky regarding the food supply
and attempts will be made to "lay
in" food supplies and agricultural
prices will advance. There is prob
ably no way to avoid this because
as the war continues there will be
an increasing feeling of instability
and danger of food shortage and
all who can will probably attempt
To guard against it.
No reason now for change.
As matters look now we see no
reason for any great change in
agricultural prices or any big
change in the demand for agricul
tural goods. There is no reason
(or American agriculture to plow
up grass land or to expand its
production. With the present set
up for anticipating need and
changes In demand there will be
plenty of time to adjust our agri
culture to increased demand if Oiat
should become necessary. At pres
ent European currency is cheap in
comparison with ours and that
will make it more difficult for
warring nations to buy.
We are a creditor, not a borrow
ing nation; the opposite was true
in 1914-1918. In this connection
the rate of exchange is very much
in favor of South America. We
are probably better organized to
,. maintain reasonably stable price
levels than ever before and this
can no doubt be accomplished un
ions the fear of food shortage
causes individuals and nations to
begin to purchase supplies for a
considerable time In the future
which, of course, will affect food
prices.
(continued from column 3.)
Whatever, the precise form of de
velopment, it seems clear that
countries heretofore considered
chiefly as primary producers must
necome more self-sufficient or
huy from the United States.
This golden opportunity to sup
plant Britain, Germany, and
France in the finished goods mar
kets of Latin America and other
countries is considerably be
clouded by the fact that the econ
omics of the latter countries are
inn perfectly complementary to
our own. It is possible, however,
mat Americans may overcome
their well-founded distrust of
South American investments In
which case the wherewithal to fl
lance a heavy ex-'Jrt surplus will
he forthcoming, ijuch of the cap
ital so invested will probably be
'osi m the next post-war Blump
War sees economic interdependence
Oldfather
sees effect
of history
Dean and professor
views past as related
to the present conflict
BY C. H. OLDFATHER.
(I) mo of th ciIIcks of aril Mid Mlenyt
Mil profFMor of orient hlntory.)
The task of presenting, from the
Department of History, the "his
torical factor" In the present war
has been turned over to the
teacher of ancient history. The
thought was that he would be the
one best qualified to pass judg
ment upon the present conflict
"sub specie aetcrnitatis." And the
thought irrespective of the out
come was logical enough.
For if the problem of war is to
be squarely faced, with any hope
or its solution, its essential or uni
versal and "eternal" nature must
be sought out. The Inescapable
fact is that war is an expression of
numan emotions which are scores
of thousands ofyears older than
civilization. It was only by killing,
py ocating other predatory ani
mals to the prey, by holding them
away from the kill, by keeping
the kill for himself, by snarling
his threat and being willing to
follow his snarl by actual fighting
only by these means and by
weapons he devised was man able
to survive the struggle of the
jungle, against animals and
against mankind. It was quite
slowly that man learned that he
could exist more easily and more
happily by making peace with
Lincoln Journal and Star.
PROF. C. H. OLDFATHER.
(domesticating) certain animals
and by co-operating and living at
peace with his fellow men.
Historically, nations from clans,
But who are his fellow human
beings with whom man can live at
peace and by so doing enjoy
Greater wellbcing? Slowly man
has widened the circle of his fel
lows, from family to clan, from
clan to tribe, from tribe to larger
groups not connected with him by
blood, from such groups to na
tions. This is the stage where
man is today, with but few excep
tions; his ideas of co-operation
are limited by emotional and age-
old prejudices of blood and lan
euarre and religion of the nation.
No more fateful apple of discord
was ever rolled into the midst of
mankind than President Wilson's
insistence upon the sacred piin
ciple of "national sclf-determina
tion." Just at the time when peo
pies were being drawn together as
nnvor before, little nations arose
over Europe with ambitions and
aspirations which could never be
satisfied. Nationalism, which has
been l ightly called by Dr. Fosdick
the supreme enemy of Christian
ity and so of the noblest aspira
tions of the human mind, gained
new life. For the time being emo
tion continues to rule intellect and
real self-respect.
but the long-run result might bo
a, permani . 'v improved South
American ma 'tct,
i 1
y
Commodities
rise sharply
Long war will bring
great changes in trade
BY E. A. GILMORE, JR.
(AuIkImiI prnfMimr of ftconnniln. )
The economic interdependence of
the entire world was spectacularly
demonstrated by the Immediate
reaction of the American economy
to the outbreak of war in Europe.
Results that government econo
mists had been striving for years
to achieve came about virtually
overnight, and official spokesmen
quickly changed their tune from
the evils of under-employment and
Idle capital to the danger of fren
zied price rises.
In three weeks the wholesale
prices of corn, wheat, butter, lard,
steel scrap, rubber, copper, tin,
zinc, and a host of other commodi
ties rose sharply In amounts rang
ing from 14 to 44. Activity in
the steel industry increased by
more man one-third with plants
operating at 88.6 of capacity
tnis week as compared with 63
at the end of August. Coal, long
one or tne sickest or industries,
took a new lease on life with
shipments for export exceeding all
recent records and mine operators
in the Appalachian fields broad
casting daily appeals for miners.
The index of industrial produc
tion in general jumped from 102
of 1923-25 levels in August to
110 at the beginning of October.
It now stands at about 115 with
good prospects of exceeding the
1937 peak of 118 before the end
of the month. Export figures for
September, when available, will
probably exceed the $251,000,000
shipped abroad in August by more
than 50. These random fa:ts
show that In the short space .of
44 days a force wholely beyond
our control can profoundly modify
tne course or economic life here
in America. The immediate ef
fects are no doubt exhileratlng.
The ultimate effects, dependent as
they are upon events abroad, are
likely to prove much less exhiler
ating. War will bring changes.
In the field of international
trade proper a long-continued war
will bring about profound changes.
The belligerents having access to
the seas must increase their pur
chases of raw materials and. so
far as they are permitted, of arms.'
At the same time their manufac
turing Industries will be shifted
over to a large extent to war
production with the result that
goods normally exported will be
come scarce. Thus lackine the
usual means of payment for im
ports these countries must turn
to their financial resources abroad.
It la estimated that foreign
cash and security investments in
the United States exceed $3,000,
000,000. Most of this belongs to
Great Britain and France, and It
will be gradually liquidated to pay
for imports from us and other
countries. When these funds are
exhausted there remains only the
liquidation of permanent property
Investments here and in other
countries, and finally the posslbll
ity of borrowing. With public
opinion in this country strictly op
posed to repeating our sad expe
rience with war loans the allies
may be forced to turn more com
pletely to countries where they
can buy on credit, probably to the
Dominions and Latin America.
Aggravated inflation.
Since none of these govern
ments possess great financial
strength, the effect of such a pol
icy will be an aggravated form
of Inflation in those countries sim
ilarto that experienced in the
United States in the last war.
Business may boom on the
strength of paper credit secured
by the promises of the allies, but
the inevitable collapse will be ter
rific.
It is entirely possible, however,
that some Industrially backward
nations may consider the chance
for rapid industrialization to be
worth the subsequent slump. In
dustrial capital never accumulates
more rapidly than in periods of
violent boom. Lacking adequate
coal, the extensive development of
heavy Industry In South America
is likely to be at best precarious,
.(continued m column 1.)
Walker finds
censorship
part of war
Journalist explains
restrictions placed
on communications
BY G. C. WALKER.
nitwtor of the ftrhool of JournlUm and
prorennor of Jonrnallnm)
7 ZnZZr JL, aP , 01
! i a. . . .
tne Hiuropean war on
daily newspapers are: first, the
imposition on all warring nations
and some neutral ones of iron-clad
censorships; secondly, the great in
crease In the cost of collecting
and transmitting what censored
news is available; and third, In
creased cost of domestic operation
owing to rises in the costs of raw
materials.
Complete control of news was
practiced in the totalitarian coun
tries long before the outbreak of
the current struggle, but, though
forecast, actual censorship among
imujlqu
the western powers began in full
force only shortly before the be
ginning of the fighting.
Germany on top In paper war.
In the paper war of propaganda
Germany has had much the better
of it. Particularly in the Polish
campaign the German censors
were fairly liberal in passing news
ana pictures. American news
paper men report that they were
given great assistance in covering
the war. As a result the German
propaganda and any "slanted"
news is propaganda was much
more effective in the early stages
of the conflict.
The French censorship was com
plete, and apparently remains so
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Lincoln Journal and Star.
PROF. GAYLE C. WALKER.
News of French operations is prac
tically limited to laconic communi
ques.
The British ministry of informa
tion has been reorganized as a
result of the anguished protests
over the "blackout of informa
tion which prevailed from the start
of hostilities. A more lenient policy
has now been adopted, but only the
other day were any American
newspaper men officially assigned
to the British expeditionary force
Newt print Imports down.
The blockade of Scandinavia has
probably stopped importation of
approximately 300,000 tons of
news print annually, or one-tenth
of American consumption. Set over
against that, though, is the fact
that Canadian pulp mills are run
ning below capacity. The war un
doubtedly will give Impetus to the
development of a domestic source
of supply.
Lead, tin and antimony, used in
type metal, soared in price as fren
zied buying of these war stocks
marked the early days of the war.
One thing this tiling promises
to do mark the end of the old war
correspondent of the Richard
Harding Davis type. No longer is
it likely that a Floyd Gibbons lose
an eye in the thick of front line
fighting. But the dangers of war
correspondents have been in
creased, for now they, as all living
things, are likely targets for
bombers, no matter how far be
1 hind the lines they may be billeted
Insecurity
eaves man;
on literature
Raysor tells position
of imaginative thought
when men hate, fear
BY T. M. RAYSOR.
(Chairman of the Ai'imrtmrnt of Knclhta
ami pnitfKnor or r;niiNh
The obvious position of litera
ture and the arts in time of war
is that of victim. The spiritual
and imaginative life of human
beings In a. Rimers! mrtiiro uhlfh
" " -
cannot exist except" upon a foun
Ho An rF at laac
a temporarily
secure physical life. And though
the foundation of a house is not
Lincoln Journal and Star.
PROF. T. M. RAYSOR.
as Important as the rooms in which
human beings live, it must neces
sarily come first.
The effect of the present war
will be added to that of the last
war and will Increase the devasta
tion in literature. The literature
which appeared in Europe since
1914 has been much inferior to
that of any preceding generation
for at least a century. Not only
had many young writers or pos
sible writers been killed on Injured,
but many others had lost the eco
nomic opportunities which might
have permitted a development of
their intellectual life. And of
those who remained, the prevail
ing tendency has been toward a
destructive type of literature, nat
uralistic, satiric, denunciatory. The
writer is necessarily a man of pro
found imaginative sympathies and
acute perceptions; and how can
such a man look at the world in
which we live without repudiating
it? If literature is a perception
of the real values of human life,
what else can the literary man do
with the kind cf society which pro
duces world wars, or the kind of
society which is produced by world
wars 7
No proof of more pacifism.
But this does not mean that the
man educated to love literature is
more pacifist than other men. H
must necessarily and instinctively
regard the individual human per
sonality as the criterion of all
other values, must judge society as
a whole by its concern for the in
dividuals which are its parts, must
oppose a philosophy which sacri
fices the individual to the state.
Whatever his criticism of any in
dividual democracy, whatever his
sense of the general shortcomings
of a democracy as a political sys
tem, he Is likely to think that it
approaches more nearly the pur
poses to which he is committed
than a totalitarian state, and that
it Is capable of fuller and richer
political development.
If he feels this deeply, he Is not
likely, it seems to me, to sneer at
a merely "ideological war," to take
pride in complete impartiality be
tween democracies (at least par
tial democracies) and totalitarian
states, to think that neutrality de
mands legislation favoring dic
tators, to attack fiercely as "not
worthy of being an American"
those who feel that the United
States have an interest in the sur
vival of other democracies, to de
nounce as propaganda any expres
sion of sympathy for democracy,
to call totalitarian the centraliza
tion for defence which a demo
cratic state is obliged to under
take in an emergency.
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